1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a. fuel feed pipe for feeding fuel to a fuel tank of a motor vehicle or the like, and more particularly to a fuel feed pipe provided with a branch pipe for releasing evaporated fuel to a canister.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 5 is a view showing the structure of a conventional fuel feed pipe and evaporated fuel treating device which are shown in FIG. 2 of the official gazette of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. HEI 7-189841. An upper section of a fuel tube 52 (i.e. a fuel feed pipe) of a fuel tank 51 is provided with an elastic seal member 55 (e.g. a seal member made of rubber) for closely contacting a peripheral section of a fuel feed gun (not shown) to prevent evaporated fuel from leaking from a fuel feed port during a fuel feed operation and a shutter valve 54 provided downstream of the elastic seal member 55 which is opened when the fuel feed gun is inserted in the fuel feed port. An evaporated fuel intake tube 53 for communicating with the upper section of the fuel tank 51 opens downstream of the shutter valve 54 of the fuel tube 52.
A charging passage 56 for communicating with a canister 59 through a two-way valve 58 opens downstream of the shutter valve 54 of the fuel tube 52. The two-way valve 58 opens whether fuel is being fed or not when the pressure of the fuel tank 51 is higher by a first predetermined pressure {e.g. 7.3 kilo pascal (55 mmHg)} or higher than atmospheric pressure. The two-way valve 58 also opens when the pressure of the fuel tank 51 is lower by a second predetermined pressure {e.g. 2.7 kilo pascal (20 mmHG)} or higher than the pressure in the canister 59.
Accordingly, as the conventional fuel feed pipe and evaporated fuel-treating device shown in FIG. 5 keep the pressure of the fuel tank 51 high whether fuel is being fed or not, it is possible to control the generation of evaporated fuel and to reduce the capacity of the canister 59.
In the conventional fuel feed pipe and evaporated fuel-treating device shown in FIG. 5, the fuel sometimes rises up to the vicinity of the upper end of the fuel tube 52 during the fuel feed operation so as to enter the charging passage 56 side. This is not desirable.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to solve such a problem as stated above and to provide a fuel feed pipe which can prevent fuel from flowing into a branch pipe side of a charging passage or the like even in the case where the fuel rises up to the vicinity of the upper end of a fuel tube during a fuel feed operation.
To solve the above-mentioned problem, according to the present invention, a fuel feed pipe having a branch pipe for releasing evaporated fuel to a canister is provided, wherein the fuel feed pipe is provided with a branch pipe blocking mechanism for blocking an opening of the branch pipe by being mechanically linked with the motion of inserting a fuel feed gun.
In the fuel feed pipe according to the present invention, in a fuel feeding condition in which the fuel feed gun is inserted into a fuel feed port of the fuel feed pipe, the opening of the branch pipe for releasing evaporated fuel to a canister is blocked by the branch pipe blocking mechanism for blocking the opening of the branch pipe by linking with the insertion of the fuel feed gun. Accordingly, the fuel is prevented from flowing into the branch pipe during a fuel feed operation.